Theoretical Study on the Reaction Mechanism and Kinetics of Criegee Intermediate CH₂OO with Acrolein

The detailed reaction mechanism and kinetics of Criegee intermediate CH₂OO with acrolein were investigated. CH₂OO may add to the C═O or C═C double bond of acrolein to form a five-membered ring adducts, and it may also insert the terminal oxygen atom or insert itself into the C-H bond of acrolein. The addition reactions are more favorable in energy than the insertion reactions. The master equation calculation show that the most competitive reaction channel is the 1,3-cycloaddition of CH₂OO across the C═O double bond forming the secondary ozonide (SOZ). The lowest energy pathway for SOZ decomposition involves the formation of the singlet biradical intermediate by ring fission, the H-shift isomerization and the dissociation to products. The calculated overall rate constant decreases as the temperature increases from 200 to 500 K, and at 298 K, it is 4.31 × 10^-12 cm³ molecule^-1 s^-1. The branching ratio of collisionally stabilized SOZ increases with the increase of pressure. At low pressure, some of SOZ decompose to HCOOH + acrolein or HCHO + acrylic acid. The pressure dependence of this reaction is in agreement with the previous theoretical and experimental observations for the reaction of CH₂OO with acetaldehyde.